Bylaw court case won by defendant, but right of appeal granted to claimant

paullong

Hi

I have this morning successfully defended in person a case brought against me by Vehicle Control Services.  Thank you to all the people that have provided advice, answered questions or have posted information on here (and Pepipoo) that I've been able to refer to.  I used several arguments including abuse of process for the £60 which the judge denied, but he agreed with my argument regarding a railway car park being subject to bylaws and therefore not relevant land under POFA and so dismissed the case, but because he disagreed with my arguments regarding abuse of process I was unable to claim costs.

What information am I allowed to post here?  When I get the judgement, can I redact personal information, scan it and post on here?  What information would be useful to anybody else?

Then I come to the problem.  The judge granted VCS the right to appeal because he believed the POFA law and government guidance for Bylaws were unclear and needed a decision to be made by a higher judge.  He told me I can appear in person for the appeal but advised I might want to seek legal advice.  I've already lost several days of work preparing my defence for this case and I'm concerned that my costs are going to rise and if the appeal is won by VCS then I could be subjected to costs being awarded against me but more significantly that I'll have to spend time preparing again for a court case, reading through the 84 pages of the original evidence from VCS and my response plus new arguments that they put forward.  The representative for VCS said that the result of this case could be far-reaching because it could prevent parking companies from charging on any railway car park.  As this could therefore be a very significant appeal, is there any law firm that I can turn to that would help me without charging or any campaign groups or consumer groups that would want to help back me on this appeal?

Thanks.

KeithP

Well done.

Which court?

paullong

Birmingham

Le_Kirk

The POFA is unclear????  The PPCs and the court have ONLY had eight years to read, learn and understand it!

nosferatu1001

The judge is wrong, there is no lack of clarity. POFA very clearly states it does not apply where there is statutory controls in place. 

Umkomaas

The hired legal quite often asks for leave to appeal. Having that granted doesn't mean that it will be followed through by the parking provider, nor that an appeal will work in their favour. 

I bet there's a number of PPCs operating around byelaws land who won't be encouraging VCS to appeal this - I expect they make more than enough from the naive motorists who simply stump up at the sight of a PCN arriving on their doormat. 

But time will tell. If it gets that far, there'll be plenty of regulars who will happily offer further advice. 

Well done by the way on your win! 🥂

Snakes_Belly

Well done on your win

If this is any consolation Excel (same director as VCS) were given permission to appeal to the decision in my hearing after the rep asked for permission. The judge also gave me permission to appeal. The rep said exactly the same to me. They did not appeal. 

If they do appeal you can respond. It will cost them to appeal both in appeal costs and representation with no guarantee of the outcome. 

It's annoying because you cannot draw a line under it but I would not worry too much. 

nosferatu1001

Oh and costs rules for APpeals are the same as the Small Claims, so youre not going to get hit for their costs. 

Snakes_Belly

I also wonder if there is the expertise at Excel/VCS. I think that they would have to throw a lot of money at this with no guarantee of the outcome.  

D_P_Dance

  I used several arguments including abuse of process for the £60 which the judge denied, 

What did he deny, your arguments or the claim?  IMO they would be extremely foolish to appeal,  an adverse decision  in a higher court would not be in their best interests.

 but because he disagreed with my arguments regarding abuse of process I was unable to claim costs.

This sounds most irregular, did you get no costs at all?

beamerguy

It is amazing that we are seeing some judges with such a lack of knowledge
POFA in itself is probably the easiest read

It will cost VCS to appeal but if it goes to a higher judge who does understand POFA, VCS can only be on a loser.  As said, time will tell, VCS have in the past lost on what they would call a significant appeal.  If they worry that this would cause the industry a problem,  given a judge understanding POFA it could be a game changer in favour of the motorist.
Depends if VCS want to damage the whole industry

Any appeal is against the judgement. You should read up on the Abuse of Process appeal by BWLegal in Southampton where they lost 
You should also read up on the appeal in Salisbury also by BWLegal. Again over Abuse of process
Whilst BWL won that appeal, it was a complete damp squib which has meant nothing

That is probably why your judge would not listen to Abuse of process as the courts don't have the time for time wasting appealing/  But, as we keep seeing, judges keep it mind and look more carefully at the other issues as he did with you.

You just wait now, then you can get all the help on here.
Don't waste money on solicitors whose knowledge of the parking industry is limited

The right people FOR FREE are right here on the forum